


Baby Star

by dominhos_pizza



Category: IZONE (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - High School, Bartenders, Eloping, F/M, I LIE BIG TIME IN THE TAGS ANYBODY AFTER ARIN IS NOT REALLY THERE, I'm probably not, It's probably illegal but I don't make sense so who cares, M/M, Rich Kim Minju, THIS IS A PREQUEL I JUST RANDOMLY WROTE, Yet., if i ever make the original storyline of course, not really - Freeform, updating tags later cuz my brain hurts rn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28698843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dominhos_pizza/pseuds/dominhos_pizza
Summary: (POTENTIAL PREQUEL TO A FUTURE STORY I MAY WRITE)As a millionaire's heir, Minju is chained up by imaginary shackles of tight control. All she wanted was to live life the way she was supposed to, growing as a person and cultivating her many talents, natural bartending being one of them.Somehow, Minju escapes the sly and cruel world of greedy companies and capitalism to a new life of living youth and having fun. Eagerly accepting her roommate Chaewon's offer of working at the local bar & lounge STAR*IZ, Minju realizes that a bartending job is more than making drinks, especially when there's hot co-worker Hyunjin working alongside her.Make a good first impression. It's easy, they say.Not really.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Kim Seungmin, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Minju, Kim Chaewon & Kim Minju
Kudos: 3





	Baby Star

**Author's Note:**

> Name inspired by the first Hyunjin SKZ-Player song and that one Soompi article who mistranslated the song name. I used that one instead of “Little Star” (the actual translation) because it made more sense in the story lol.
> 
> https://www.soompi.com/article/1444482wpp/watch-stray-kids-hyunjin-releases-beautiful-self-composed-song-dedicated-to-his-late-dog
> 
> ___>
> 
> If I don't procrastinate or get burnt out before I do so, expect this to be the prequel of a future series. The character tags and ships are based off my plans for that prequel.
> 
> Also, for people who have read my other fics, I'm so sorry that I haven't posted. I've been writing this since 1/1/2021, but I haven't had that much time to write bc of school. High school is tough. *smh*
> 
> If my writing is terrible, I'm sorry. I tried.

Good fortune and popularity have always come easy to me. Ever since I was born, I have been rich. I was born into a rich family in South Korea, rich enough that they could manipulate the public to their doings. I’ve been raised with a discipline of no other and looked upon the morals of some of the most samaritan people around. I unintentionally attract a posse like a magnet; they follow me everywhere and they continue to add up every day. My looks charm the boys around me, making me have plenty of admirers. 

Yet, people assume that I live the ordinary life of a millionaire daughter with no worries and such. I have raining money galore from my father and I can burn it whenever I want. I have everything I want in life. I don’t have to worry and retrospect on mistakes in my life ever.

That’s the part that people always get wrong. Very, very, very wrong.

I consider my “visual queen” status a curse. The posse, those supposed friends? They’re fake, and all of them have attempted at one point to manipulate me for my father’s money. The admirers swooning at me are annoying. I don’t want to deal with them. I don’t want to deal with being stuck in a fancy house sitting still and looking pretty. I want freedom. That’s all I want, and I could never obtain it. The one thing to make me happy -- being oblivious of consequences and living my life as I please -- was never meant for me.

At least that’s what I thought for several years. Then, Kim Chaewon walked into my life and everything changed.

She was initially part of that hectic posse I’ve always hated, but she made herself stand out among that group over time. Chaewon’s caring, honest, and genuine personality was like the one shining light that stood out from the rest of the shadows during a theater performance. The more I got to know her, the more I liked her even more. Because of this, we have quite a bit of precious moments together. 

With that came that one decision that changed my life forever. 

One day, I was ranting to Chaewon about my day and I unintentionally switched the topic to my desire for freedom. I told her about the hardships of my situation and the dreams I imagined of late at night on days I can’t sleep. I spilled everything to her in a crashing waterfall fashion. 

To be honest, I thought she would leave behind our friendship at that moment. As much as a nice person she is, Chaewon wouldn’t be the type of person to befriend a problematic person, right? It’s human nature; someone in my life was bound to do that somehow.

She didn’t. Instead, she handed me an offer I couldn’t refuse on a silver platter.

“You know, about that,” Chaewon said that fateful day. “You have perfect timing. I’m moving into an apartment and I need a roommate. I’m offering you this: want to move in with me?”

“If I leave my parents, then I have no money left. How am I going to pay rent?” I asked her, still in shock that the one possibility I counted out had a chance at becoming reality.

She shrugged. “You don’t have to.”

“Really? It's as simple as that?”

“Yeah. Just keep your place clean and tidy, and you’ll be fine.”

“That sounds great! Where is the apartment though?”

“Near Dongdaemun-gu, north of the Han River. I found a nice apartment there. Bought it last week.”

“Ooh, so brand new and recently moved?” I gasped at her in wonder. “Nice!” 

“Don’t worry about my stuff, my stuff is moved in already. So, how about the offer? Yes or no?”

Two days later, I packed the small amount of baggage I had into a single bag, got onto a train to Dongdaemun, and moved into my new apartment. Life from then on became more luxurious. No worries, no problems -- my parents let me walk out of their lives easy and no one even bothered to search for me. 

~~~~

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ Min, are you available today? _

**MinMin**

_ I’m not going to be busy today, why? _

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ You know that place I work at nowadays? STAR*IZ? Honestly, I think it would be nice for us to work the same part-time shifts and hang out there together. _

**MinMin**

_ So basically, you want me to get a part-time job at where you work? _

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ Exactly, Min. If you don’t mind. I know you’re talented at mixing drinks; you’ll be perfectly fine. _

**MinMin**

_ But aren’t there people over there just wanting to be drunk and crazy? Isn’t it...you know. _

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ Lol, sorta yes but sorta no. STAR*IZ has a restaurant and a bar, plus there's a designated smoking area outside. You get plenty of free food from working though. _

**MinMin**

_ I’m in. The food you bring home is delicious. Send me the address. _

**Fairy Chaewonnie** sent  **MinMin** a location!

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ I’ll give you a tour of the place with Ms. Eunbi later tonight at 8 pm. It’s closing hours. Will that do? _

**MinMin**

_ It’s perfect, see you there? _

**Fairy Chaewonnie**

_ Definitely. _

~~~~

When Minju arrived at STAR*IZ’s doorstep, Chaewon was waiting at the front door. As soon as she saw Minju, Chaewon rushed forward to greet her and encapsulated Minju in a bear-hug embrace. 

“Minjuuuu, I’m so glad to see you! You’ll like the crew; I promise! STAR*IZ is a really fun and nice place!”

“It definitely looks like it,” the other girl comments, looking at the snazzy exterior of the place. The building, from the front view, had a large sign that spelled “STAR*IZ” in a pastel indigo hue. It was outlined in bright fluorescent light bulbs, and, underneath that, dim fairy lights were strung like vines on aged cobblestone. 

Chaewon’s face brightens just like a light switch flickering on. “Trust me, you’ll like it here all the way. Even the not bar-preferenced people come here for the good service and food. Now, come in! I can’t wait to introduce you to Ms. Eunbi!” She pushes open the entrance door and pulls Minju into the bar and lounge, the door closing behind the two.

STAR*IZ definitely looks like a place Minju would frequently go to. As Chaewon leads the way, Minju gazes at the framed photographs and paintings placed high on the red velvet walls. Every last one of them, with high quality and all, impresses Minju in their own way. 

Some show pictures of a group of people, presumably the STAR*IZ staff, posing for the camera. A few were pictures of certain staff taking selfies. Those were hilarious! Minju couldn’t help but giggle at them. 

One particular photograph she laughed at was Chaewon in her dark orange hair with pink highlights taking a selfie. She posed cutely for the camera, mouth in a pout and an index finger poking at her right cheek. Meanwhile, her co-workers in the back photobombed her. A handsome black-haired boy with cat-like features put his hands, which were in a peace-sign gesture, right behind her hand, giving Chaewon bunny ears. His mouth was in a very exaggerated duck face as he did so. Another co-worker, a blonde-hair woman, appears in the camera too, but the photo cuts off everything underneath the woman’s mischievous and wide eyes. 

“Which picture are you laughing at?” Chaewon turned to look at Minju, who was still cackling at the picture. She turns to look at which picture Minju was looking at. When she saw it was her photobombed selfie, she snickered. “Oh, that one. I didn’t realize I was photobombed at the time, but, now that I look back on it, I find that selfie hilarious. Ms. Eunbi loves that picture too; she was one of the two people who photobombed the selfie.”

“Who was the other?” Minju asks out of curiosity. The guy in the picture was very handsome, and it intrigued her interest.

Chaewon clicks her tongue. “Hwang Hyunjin, the other bartender. You’ll be working with him more from now on if you pass that interview.”

“An interview?” Minju looks down at her clothes, a white blouse, ripped navy jeans with a red stripe going up the sides, and black Converse sneakers. “I didn’t exactly wear interview-oriented clothing but ok.”

“It’s alright. I gave Ms. Eunbi a good word about you; you have a 99.99% chance of passing it. I know you.” 

“That’s some nice math?”

“I don’t do mathematics most of the time, but, yes, that is some fantastic probability,” Chaewon answers. Noticing a woman approaching the two of them, she taps Minju’s shoulder briefly and points to the woman. “Oh, here comes Ms. Eunbi! Hi, Ms. Eunbi!”

Eunbi laughs as she greets the two. “Jeez, Chaewon, you don’t have to be so formal.”

“It’s alright,” Chaewon giggles with her. “I do it everywhere anyway. Ms. Eunbi, meet Minju. She’s the person I’ve been talking about, my best friend and roommate.

“It’s nice to meet you, Minju. I hope we get along well.” Eunbi extends her hand towards the said girl in a handshake gesture. Minju follows along.

“Likewise, Ms. Eunbi.”

Ms. Eunbi, to Minju, seemed like an elegant and well-mannered woman in her mid-20s. She adorned short blond hair that was curved at her shoulders in a sorta bob, just like in the picture Minju just looked at. Under a tannish apron that reaches her knees may be a simple oversized white T-shirt and black pants, but her feet had black stilettos on. Dang. Minju’s feet would definitely not survive those.

“Wow, you too already? You two surely pick habits off of each other,” Eunbi jokes light-heartedly. “So, on with the interview and tour?”

Minju answers her with a bright smile on her face. “Yes, please!”

~~~~

After passing her interview with flying colors and getting the same shifts as Chaewon, Eunbi and Chaewon gave Minju a more extensive tour of STAR*IZ. 

“This is where you’ll be working with Hyunjin,” Ms. Eunbi explains when the three stop at the entrance of the lounge. “He left a few minutes ago, but you’ve probably seen him somewhere on the wall already.”

Minju briefly thinks back to the framed picture near the entrance. The guy, Hyunjin...he looked familiar yet so foreign to her memory at the same time. Was her brain tripping her up again? Maybe, it was the eyes. Those cat eyes gleaming with mirth remind her of something somehow. Or, how about the hair? She knew plenty of guys with the same hairstyle, but, for some reason, Hyunjin has the aura that makes him pop. 

She can’t put the strange feeling in words, but she wants to learn more about him. Maybe having him as a co-worker could help? Maybe?

“Ooh!” Chaewon instinctively raises her hand in the hair but immediately puts it back down as soon as she realizes. “She saw that pic where he and you photobombed me!”

“That one photo?” Ms. Eunbi raises an eyebrow.

Chaewon gives an eager grin. “Yeah, that one!”

Ms. Eunbi covers her mouth as she snickers. “That pic is my guilty pleasure, oh my god.”

“Yeah, she laughed at it when we were walking down the entrance earlier.”

Ms. Eunbi does a feather-light light slap to Minju’s back. “Good taste, Minju.”

“Thanks,” said girl sheepishly says.

“Anyway, on to where you will be,” Eunbi walks to the back of the lounge, takes a key from her apron pocket, and opens a door with a paper that says “Staff Only” on it. “Follow me, Minju. Chaewon, you can join me and Minju if you want or you can do your duties if you wish.”

“Ummm...Minju?” Chaewon looks up to the other girl as if she was waiting for an answer. “If you want to?”

“You have your duties to do; I don’t want to be a burden to you. I’ll be fine on my own, I guess so…”

“Will do then.” Chaewon gives Minju a bear-hug and a squeeze to go along with it before scampering in the direction where the group came from. “Have fun with Ms. Eunbi! I’ll be off in the kitchen washing dishes.”

Now, Minju was all alone with her new boss, who she just met. Was this moment going to be something that she would love to forget later or a treasured moment of a potentially close relationship? 

The future, she decides, is up for grabs. She might as well YOLO it. 

“Ummm…” Minju mumbles to her new boss as she watches Chaewon scurry off from a distance. “What’s to do now?”

“Well, I’ll help you get acquainted with your station first, show you around, bring you back to this station, and then you can do a test run. Seems fair?”

“Of course, Ms. Eunbi.” 

“There’s no need with the Ms., Eunbi will do.” 

“Alright...Eunbi.” The casual name, removing the Ms., seemed queer to the tongue.

“Now, let’s get going. Follow me.” 

Eunbi walks through the door, her heels click-clacking against the marble floor. Minju trails in after her. 

~~~~

“This,” Eunbi points out. “is your shared workstation. Hyunjin loves keeping the place clean, so it’s really nice. He’ll probably get mad if you mess it up, however.”

Wow. The sight...it’s amazing. In front of the station is a large and shiny quartz tabletop with dark-purple bar stools placed around it. Underneath that is a decently sized cutting board for cutting herbs and the like. Behind her, slightly to the left, is a tall five-rung shelf of various alcoholic beverages and a small fridge. Empty champagne, vodka, and wine bottles hang on the area’s sides. 

Hmmm...the guy’s a clean freak? Minju wasn’t surprised. All of the handsome men, for some reason, were clean freaks. It’s sad but true. At least this place is spotless. That’s nice of him, even if he truly did it just for himself.

She just hopes that Hyunjin isn’t as much of a clean freak as Levi from Attack on Titan. Then, she’ll be screwed for sure after the yelling and such.

“I’m an organized person, sure, but is Hyunjin a…”

Eunbi interrupts. “Clean freak?”

“Yeah, you took the words right from my mouth, Eunbi.”

“I guess?” Eunbi shrugs. He’s not that harsh about other people’s messes thankfully.”

Oh, thank gosh. Minju was not ready to be jumped the first day collaborating on the job. 

“Anyway, from what you’ve told me earlier during the interview, you’re experienced with all of this equipment I hope?”

“Yes.”

Eunbi clicks her tongue. “Good to know. So, moving on to the other parts of the restaurant and...oh.”

“Hmmm…?” Minju tilts her head and squints to see what Eunbi is looking at.

“Hyunjin hasn’t left the restaurant, but oh well. Like I said, moving on…”

And there’s the guy in the flesh. He looks handsome and hot, for sure. He doesn’t seem rude, just more charming and confident than arrogant. Is he single?

~~~~

It’s a small world, Minju realizes. 

She knows half of the staff she met outside of the bar and lounge setting. Chaewon, who apparently works at the STAR*IZ restaurant, is her roommate and bestie. The girl working with Chaewon at the dishes, Arin, is a friendly upperclassman that Minju comes to for counseling when problems arise. The main cook himself, Taehyun, is Chaewon and Minju’s landlord’s son. What a surprise.

She could go on and on about who she recognized at STAR*IZ, but that would take all day. It would bore everyone, maybe even Chaewon. 

However, Minju could spend hours talking about how genius this bartender set-up is. It is absolutely perfect, and it has everything Minju needs. Even that small fridge in the back -- which looks like it carries barely anything at first -- is amazing. Minju now could compliment that fridge in so many ways; all of the herbs and fruits that she could think of are in there. Wow.

“Let’s see what this baby can do, it’s time for a test drink,” Minju thinks to herself. “Pimm’s Cup it is.”

Minju’s main specialty, to everyone else it seems, is making margaritas, but her true colors shine when she’s making the Pimm’s Cup. Putting in her cheerful, sunshine-like spirit in every Pimm’s Cup she makes, every recipient feels a tropical island paradise in summer when they taste her Pimm’s Cup.

(In her opinion, it’s her favorite drink too. It’s not too sweet, not too sour. It’s just right.)

So, the next thing she knows, she’s off to do exactly that. Minju skims through the shelves of alcoholic beverages, looking for the gin section. Once she finds that and the Pimms No. 1 bottle that’s in it, she takes out a random margarita glass, fills the glass half-way with ice, and pours the Pimm's No 1. gin into the brewing concoction.

When she goes to the magic freezer and opens it to find strawberries and basil, the door swings open at the same time.

“Shucks, my shin. Stupid demon fridge!” a guy grunts from the other side of the door. Minju’s face is peering through the fridge, so she can't see what the guy looks like. But, she can hear his deep voice wincing in pain, and she immediately sticks her head out of the fridge and looks at the person who got hurt.

Oh no, it's him, Hyunjin. The hot guy. Uh oh. 

He looks handsome from afar, but he is ethereal up-close. He's taller than she thought -- a good five inches, might as well be a head, above her. His cat eyes are sharper and his nose is more eagle-like than expected. And the voice...Minju has gotten herself into a lot of trouble this time around. This isn't good. 

She quickly closes the fridge out of instinct and peers up at the boy. "Ummm....hey, I heard you wince. Did you stub your foot on the fridge?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin briefly lifts his injured left foot to see how hurt his shin was and releases it to the floor right after. "Aish, that's going to bruise for a while."

Goodness gracious, she just dug herself into a hole as deep as the Earth's mantle. He's probably going to sue her for accidentally injuring him. What fun.

Minju gestures her eyes to Hyunjin's ankles. "Do you need a bag of ice for that?"

"Probably. I can go get it..." The boy starts walking to the door, but Minju beats him to it.

"Nope, you're injured. Just sit down on a chair or the floor back here or something, and I'll be right back." Minju leaves in a hurry to the restaurant to obtain some ice.

From behind where she once stood, Hyunjin sits on the floor, face bedazzled. "Alright?" 

~~~~

From where Chaewon worked in the kitchen, washing dishes and putting them in the STAR*IZ dishwasher with her coworker Arin, Chaewon could hear a scream from the hallway calling her name. 

"Chaewonnie, Fairy Chaewonnie, I think I'm gonna die! Where's the ice?"

She looked up from the dish she was currently scrubbing with a soapy sponge to see Minju barrelling inside of the restaurant's entrance. Minju looked like a very distraught tumbleweed, at least that's how Chaewon worded it.

"Wait, who's gonna die? And why do you need a bag of ice?"

Minju mumbled in panic. "Where's the ice first?"

"I have one right here in the fridge. But, first, what happened?"

"You know your co-worker Hyunjin?"

"Yeah? And?"

"Well, he came back to the bartender station when I was test-running the station and making a Pimm's cup. He opened the door and the fridge..."

Chaewon groaned once she heard about the fridge. "Not this again."

"What do you mean?"

"He has a habit of being clumsy, something with limbs. Last week, when I was near him, he walked into a wall. Here." Chaewon tossed Minju the bag of ice and Minju caught it easily.

"Well then," Minju laughed. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem! I'm your fairy godmother after all!" Chaewon smiled.

Minju looked at her with a pout. "But I'm not Cinderella." 

"Yes, you are. Now, go save your prince!"

"HE'S NOT MY PRINCE!" Minju retorted as she ran back to the other side of STAR*IZ.

"SURE! SURE!" Chaewon watched the other girl run off into the distance before mumbling to herself, "Sure he's not."

Arin, who witnessed the commotion not speaking a word, looked at Minju's distant silhouette, then to Chaewon in confusion. "Excuse me, who?"

"You know."

"Oh," Arin realizes. "Him."

"Yeah."

They both looked at each other. "Uh oh."

~~~~

"Here's your ice. I'm so sorry for making this happen in the first place and so sorry to keep you waiting, I'm so -"

"There's no reason to apologize." Hyunjin shrugs from his spot on the floor, the ice pack resting comfortably on his injured shin. "Hmm...you look like someone I read about in a newspaper, a 15-year-old daughter of a millionaire runs from home. That's you, isn't it? Kim Minju?"

Why the hell does he read the newspaper? Nobody reads the newspaper nowadays. The incident was two years ago!

Minju scratches the back of her neck. "Yeah, that's me. Umm...you're 

Hyunjin, right? Hwang Hyunjin?"

"Bingo, right on the money," Hyunjin snaps his fingers. "So, you're the new bartender, huh? I heard Chaewon say that her friend, who happens to be you, is talking about a newly hired bartender."

"U-uh yeah. I'm starting tomorrow, the 5 pm to 7 pm shift."

"Sweet, I'm working the same shift tomorrow. So, Pimms cup over there?"

"Yeah, I was working on it just as you came. I got the strawberry and basil for it from the fridge. By the way, do you need a chair? You've been sitting on the floor for quite a while."

"Nah, I'm fine. It works like an ankle sprain; if I don't use my shin and just sit down, it'll heal and I'll stand up eventually. So far, it's been 5 minutes. I can probably get up in two minutes or so."

"That's good." Minju goes to the fridge and grabs the items she was trying to get earlier. Placing them next to the cup, she turns to look at the boy. "If you don't mind."

"Sure. Is that a Pimm's Cup I see?"

"Yes?" 

"Ooh, those are wonderful. How many strawberries do you add?"

"Five. I like the flavor of red fruits."

"Ppal-ppal-ppalgan mat gunggeumhae honey..." Hyunjin starts doing the Red Flavor dance.

Minju's eyes were about to bulge out of her head. "Wait, you stan Red Velvet?"

"Hell yeah! Of course, my bias is Seulgi!" he exclaimed brightly. 

"Mine's Wendy!" 

From then on, the two of them realize that they had a lot in common. They went to the same high school and that Hyunjin was in the grade before her. They like the same K-pop groups and even have the same interest in alcoholic beverages. Therefore, they became friends in the chaotic mini-universe in the STAR*IZ lounge as partners-in-crime and friendly co-workers.

Well, Minju wasn't sure about the last part. Her feelings for Hyunjin may be suppressed, but they never left.


End file.
